"To discover to the world something which deeply concerns it, and of which it was previously ignorant; to prove to it that it had been mistaken on some vital point of temporal or spiritual interest, is as important a service as a human being can render to his fellow creatures..."
John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"

Monday, February 3, 2014

From the founding of the republic and the debates over slavery, until the passage of the Civil Right act in l964, took nearly 200 years. With respect to the civil right issues of our time, from the Stonewall Riots in 1969, to the President of the United States supporting same sex marriages, took 43 tumultuous years.

During that time, three generations would engage in the struggle. A plague would descend upon and become part of the struggle and take the lives of many in the movement. Public opinion would go from shock and horror to love and acceptance. As the saying goes, oh what a strange trip it was.

Sean Strub has been a kind of Zelig of gay rights movement. He was there at all the key moments, with all the key players. He was on the ramparts, in the living rooms and hospital rooms and courtrooms along the way. He now gives us a memoir of his life and of the times we’ve all shared, in his new book Body Counts: A Memoir of Politics, Sex, AIDS, and Survival.

About

I grew up during the Kennedy Presidency. It was a time when the best and the brightest sat center stage in the nation's psyche. I've always remembered the story, that at an arts gala at the White House, Kennedy looked around the room and proclaimed it "the greatest gathering of talent since Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
Without the benefit of such trappings, I've had the opportunity, for the past nineteen years, to have a seat at an international banquet of ideas and history.
My radio program provided me a unique opportunity to "travel" around the world and speak to thousands of the most imaginative thinkers and leaders in the arenas of politics, religion, journalism, business, popular culture, academics, science, economics, history, and medicine.
During these years, I have taken many people with me on this journey. It has been a momentous time. The trauma of politics, the onslaught of technology, the insights of science, and the changes in the human condition make this a period almost unequaled in history. I'm excited that technology has now made it possible for me to take more of you along with me on this journey.